


Hulk's Best Birthday

by BairnSidhe, ValkyriePhoenix



Series: Bodies-verse [15]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Belated/Forgotten Birthdays, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hulk Gets a Hug, Hulk Needs a Hug, Way more Comfort though, birthday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 20:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16415603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BairnSidhe/pseuds/BairnSidhe, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValkyriePhoenix/pseuds/ValkyriePhoenix
Summary: Hulk usually doesn't celebrate his birthday, what with all the memories attached to it.  But he was still sad to have forgotten it in the mess with Ultron.  So he tells his team, and they throw him the Best Birthday Ever!





	Hulk's Best Birthday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Beth_Mac](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Mac/gifts).



> This is a two-part gift. The first part is for my beloved Fan-Child Beth_Mac, with much apologies about the lateness of it. (I kept trying to do a birthday topical to your own milestone, and it wasn't working, oops.)
> 
> The second is to anyone who missed the recent birthdays of the Bodies-Verse itself, and wants a make-up party.
> 
> And also to Hulk, because he deserves it.

Hulk was sad.  He didn’t know what to do with the sad.  It wasn’t big sad that could be cried out.  It wasn’t anything he could run away from or yell at or smash.  It was a small sad, like sand between toes. Hulk was not always good at holding small things.

“What’s wrong, Hulk?” Tiny Jane asked.  Tiny Jane was helping Hulk-and-Bruce fix their rooms after the mean metal man made a mess.

“Hulk… sad.”

“Why’s that?”

“Missed Hulk’s birthday.”

“We can fix that!” Tiny Jane said happily.  “We’ll just do it now. What do you normally do?”

“Nothing.  Hulk’s birthday makes Puny Banner sad, because when Hulk was born, Betty got hurt and Puny Banner feels bad.”

“You don’t normally call him that,” she mused.  “Is there a reason you did now?”

“Bruce is Bruce.  Puny Banner is Bruce when Bruce isn’t.”  Hulk squinted and tried to find the words.  Tiny Jane waited patiently. “Bruce is always there.  Is a person. Puny Banner is people, not person, and goes na-na-na-nah in Bruce head.  Like opposite Hulk. Comes out on Hulk’s birthday, makes Bruce and Hulk sad. So don’t remind Bruce.”

“Well, Puny Banner sounds stupid and not any fun,” Tiny Jane said firmly.  “And you should get to have a birthday, so we’re going to give you one. And if Puny Banner tries to make either you or Bruce feel bad about that, I’ll tase him.”

Hulk tried very hard not to laugh.

Hulk did not quite succeed. 

<^>

The day of the party was nice and warm.  The party itself was in the park, with all the green and the pretty birds.  Bruce had walked them there, out onto the grass, then sat on the pretty purple blanket meant for Hulk before letting go of his body.  Hulk caught him gently and set him down with a happy rumble before surging up into the body like a dolphin breaching. He smiled at the decorations.

Purple banners had been hung from the trees, announcing his 12th birthday.  Hulk though about that. He didn’t feel 12, but the numbers added up right when he counted them.  It didn’t matter, at least not as much as the gigantic purple balloons tied to the big metal table holding lots of boxes.  Or as much as the children playing yard games with purple bean bags. There were even pillowcases stuffed with beans for Hulk to play with too.  Clint was in his silliest Hawkeye outfit doing flips and jumps and standing on rolling balls pretending he was going to fall. Natasha was in a super frilly dress and clown makeup doing card tricks and passing out candy she pulled from behind people’s ears.  Jane was standing on a stage to make funny animals in the air with bubbles and a wand, and Thor was beside her making smaller ones with the shiny Asgardian balloons that dissolved in rain. Steve had dressed like an old fancy painter in a long coat, and was drawing people, and Darcy was helping the parents of the children store the candy, balloons, and drawings.

After playing, there was a Cake.  It was big, and three steps high, with shiny candles with what looked like fire but didn’t smell like it.

“You’ve put out pretty big fires, Big Guy,” Tony explained.  “So I made special candles that you won’t overshoot on. They’re easy, so you can go really light and not worry about not getting them.”

Hulk smiled, closed his eyes and made a wish before blowing gently on the top of the cake.  The candles poofed in sparks then went out. Tony grabbed them off the cake before anyone got impatient, and Darcy and Tony helped put the smallest step of cake on a plate for Hulk.  The inside was chocolate with a purpley-red jam in the middle. The guests who needed the most food divided the middle step up, and everyone else got big pieces from the bottom, and Betty went around after everyone had some to put icing roses on top for anyone who wanted one and didn’t get it.  There were also little tiny pies for people who didn’t like cake, and Zoe and Harley had been passing out frozen fruit on sticks earlier.

Everyone had a good time with the deserts and then Tony and Betty invited Hulk over to the pile of boxes.  The Little Monsters were standing guard by it with their foam weapons and happy faces.

“Open this one first,” said Colin, pointing to a large box in silver wrapping paper.

“That’s not the one you guys brought,” Betty mused, looking at her papers with important things.  “That’s from a Dr. Franklin. Do we even know a Dr. Franklin? Darcy?”

“SciDiv,” Darcy said, and started moving things off the big box.  “That’s the whole team’s present, Franklin just dropped it off for them.  Although I don’t know how the boys knew what it was unless they’ve been being very naughty…”

“Silver paper  _ alwa’s _ goes first,” Caddell said with a sigh.  “Silver paper is things you want to wear or have while you open the rest.”

Hulk laughed and opened the box, carefully tugging the paper open and off.  In the box was purple fur, like from a stuffed animal. Hulk tilted his head and pulled carefully on that.

It was a backpack!

Shaped like the monster backpacks the Little Monsters wore, but big, so Hulk could wear it.  The zippers had large tabs for Hulk’s fingers, with glowing green gem-things set in them to squeeze and pull.  Inside were all sorts of pockets with Hulk Crayons and Hulk Paper and a Hulk Flashlight, all of which fit his hands just right.

“Now ours!” insisted Lava, with a strong tone.  “I had the idea, but the boys helped with the design.”

Hulk took the flat package Darcy handed him and opened it.  A tablet. Like the kind Darcy and Betty used sometimes on missions, or after missions, except it had a blue-green-purple cross striped pattern on the back, and theirs were plain black.  Hulk tried poking at it a few times, and while he could hit the button to turn it on, he couldn’t see how he’d be able to use it very much. It was nice to have, though, because it was something only Big People got.

“There’s not many buttons,” Lava explained, “because we couldn’t fit them and have it big enough for your fingers.  But buttons aren’t important anyway, I don’t have any on mine, because I can’t see the screen for touch screen buttons.”

“The green pen picture is for writing things,” Colin said, climbing up to Hulk’s shoulder so he could point as he talked, “tap it, then talk.  Tap it again, and it stops. The blue camera picture turns it into a camera, tapping takes pictures, touch and hold takes video. Say “Stop Camera” to turn it back.  The purple button calls Jarvis.”

“I will happily help with whatever you need,” said Jarvis out of one of his fighting bodies.  It had a purple feather boa on it to make it not-scary to people, but still looked sort of uncomfortable with being out on a not-fighting day.  “I can perform any normal tablet or cell phone functions not covered by the two recording methods already installed, including connecting you to another phone, giving directions like a GPS, or even looking up instructions for how to do something new, like making omelettes.”

“Never going to let go of that, are you J?” Tony grumbled.

“Never, Sir.”

“Well, then we might as well give him ours.  This is from the entire Iron Family,” Tony said, and grabbed a small bag he tossed to Hulk.  Hulk smiled at him. Tony was Funny. “I know they look like your normal comm units, only bright, but they’re actually Hulk Earbuds with voice control linking to your Tower playlists.  Now you can take your music with you, Big Guy!”

“Related to that,” Darcy said, leaning in over Tony’s shoulder, “Our present couldn’t be wrapped.  Steve, Bucky, and I made you several new playlists.”

Hulk started to put them in, when Colin grabbed at his hand.

“Not yet.  There’s a surprise later.”

Hulk nodded.  He didn’t know much about birthdays, so he’d been letting his friends guide him in this one.  It was good to listen to people who knew more. He opened more presents, including a book of really pretty pictures from Billy, who now had a small smile and a camera around his neck.  Hulk was glad his friend was happy and finding ways to feel important.

The sun was starting to hit the tops of the trees when Darcy called out to get everyone’s attention.  She led them all to an open area with a stage at one side. Five men stood on it with instruments and Darcy shot them a thumbs up.

Hulk didn’t know them, and then they started making music.

“GIANTS!!!”

The men paused, taken aback by the roar.  Then one of them laughed.

“Looks like we may need to change the band name, guys.  ‘Cause the big guys says we’re  _ definitely _ giants, and he should know!”

It was a good party.

**Author's Note:**

> No translations this time.
> 
> Notes:  
> Time-line wise, this is set right after Ultron, so before they know any of the things revealed in the final chapter of Bodies in Space. Bucky is down an arm at the moment, and the Tower is trashed still, so Tony and the Iron Fam have yet to go on break, although they will right after this.
> 
> Puny Banner isn't a full personality as much as a set of intrusive thoughts tied up in bad tape. If Puny Banner WERE a person, he'd count as really abusive to both Bruce and Hulk, which causes most of the in-network friction. Bruce and Hulk agree that getting rid of Puny Banner is a good idea, now that they know it's not Bruce that does that, just his issues. Yay teamwork!
> 
> Based on the timeline I have, Hulk was "born" in a lab accident in 2003. This fic is set 2015, and Hulk is 12 chronological years old. Given the amount of time Bruce spent trying to contain him instead of teaching him, Hulk often seems younger, although his emotional maturity is off the charts.
> 
> Clint is in his Performer Hawkeye outfit from the circus, which is basically [this](https://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Hawkeye-Marvel-Comics-Avengers-Clint-Barton.jpg).  
> Natasha is dressed in [this](http://www.trustedeal.com/image/cache/products/22336/201702113b8b2439be50fe7df13df25fc2e9eb4f-800x1200.jpg).
> 
> The cake is a three tier chocolate layer cake with the layers separated with a sauce made from raspberry, lingonberry, and blackberry jams, blended together and whipped with heavy cream. The top tier (Hulk's Cake) is an 8 inch square, the second tier is a 10 inch circle, and the bottom tier is a 12 inch square.
> 
> For those not versed in the Verse, the Little Monsters are Colin and Caddell Harrow, who have a fondness for Good Monsters. (Colin is Green Monster, Caddell is Blue Monster.) They received similar backpacks to what Hulk gets when they had their first SHIELD-sanctioned birthday party. The backpacks look like [this](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TOKRY4W/ref=twister_B00YOYZDCI?_encoding=UTF8&th=1) without the leash and with loads more secret pockets.
> 
> Lava is another character from that side of things, the adopted daughter of Loki. She's blind, good at magic, and uses a voice-to-text tablet to fill out reports after breaking people's brains for the greater good. The tablet she uses has teh same body as the adult's work tablets, but Hulk's has [this](https://www.xmple.com/wallpaper/gingham-blue-striped-white-green-purple-penta-1920x1080-c5-f8f8ff-7cfc00-20b2aa-8a2be2-1b1e7b-l-142-a-30-f-16.svg) pattern on the case.
> 
> Billy is a kid from Bodies in Space, a pediatric cancer patient who struggled with self-worth after his diagnosis. Hulk befriended him at the Avenger's Halloween party for kids in the hospital. Afterwards, Steve talked to his art buddies, and Pepper and Jarvis did the financials, and there's now a small press that publishes books of art and stories by kids in long-term pediatric care. The combo of creativity and production helps with the self esteem of the kids, and the profits not given to the kid in royalties mostly go to research for the cure of the issues affecting them.
> 
> The surprise is a concert by Hulk's favorite band, They Might Be Giants. The band itself is Brooklyn based, and I'm sure for this reason Steve was able to seek them out for autographs and fanboying, which because it's Steve, led to a pleasant sort of passing friendship where they agree to take a gig doing Hulk's party. However, the concert itself is at the Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, so a number of non-party-goers also got a great show.


End file.
